'Sneaky and inexplicable' - Women unfairly left out of Warmer Homes Scheme

Thousands of women in receipt of the ‘Deserted Wives’ Allowance are literally being left out in the cold as they’re excluded from the SEAI Warmer Homes Scheme.

Aontú’s Donegal Rep Mary T Sweeney says that in a response to a Parliamentary Question put in by her party, the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’ Brien has confirmed that it is not a qualifying grant, a fact she has described as “sneaky and inexplicable” .

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She says: “These women are being deserted by this Government. There are almost 4,500 women in Ireland currently in receipt of this payment. The ‘Deserted Wife’s’ payment was effectively closed to new applicants in 1997, meaning many recipients are now older and more vulnerable than their One-Parent Family Payment counterparts. This makes their exclusion from the scheme particularly concerning.

"As a result, many are significantly worse off than those on the One-Parent Family Payment, despite having comparable means and the same need to maintain a single-adult household. While one group can access vital home retrofit supports, the other cannot.

"For many women, the Warmer Homes Scheme provides the sole practical means to enhance their homes, increase energy efficiency, and alleviate fuel poverty. However, the existing eligibility criteria result in an inequitable scenario, whereby two social welfare recipients in comparable situations may receive different treatment.

"It’s just yet another example of the baffling inequities that the most impoverished must contend with and I am calling for this to be remedied. It is not fair and it flies in the face of all this Government proclaims about fairness for all”.